MAKING NOTE

We went to Sam's Club today. On our way in, we noticed an elderly lady coming out with an assistant, one of the strong young men that works there. He was pushing her oh-so-loaded cart. And while he was the size of caveman on 'roids, he still struggled to keep the overflowing cart moving in the right direction.

As we passed, I wondered, "What could an old lady possibly need so much of from Sam's Club, that Neanderthal can't hardly manage it?" I admit, I did a little look-see through her cart as we passed.
And what did I see? (because you know you want to know).
Oh, 'bout 245 rolls of twa-lette paper.
Seems the ol' bridge club is, well, on the go (Bahahaha! Pun intended).

And I know what you're thinking. That 245 rolls of TP couldn't possibly weigh down a cart like that, even if it is enough paper to pamper one's posterior for eons on end. I agree. But now, maybe the 27 cans of JUMBO TUB-O-BEANS will, right? Yes siree. That lil' lady had herself an arsenol of pork-n-beans.
I mean, who's gonna eat all those beans? Is she havin' a big beans-n-franks party?
"Welcome to my beans-n-franks party. Grab a plate and load 'er up!"
Let me just say, if it's for the bridge club she didn't leave anything to chance. Plenty of twa-lette paper, just in case.

Now if that sight didn't stump me going in, then the comment we received coming out surely did. We were going through check-out with our items. A big bag of romaine lettuce. Mushrooms. Boca burgers. Silk soymilk. Granola bars. Vitamins. Seasonings. And a vegetarian cookbook to top it off.

The cashier had the same inquisitive look on her face as she scanned our items as I did when I noted the tp and bean megacart rolling along. She finally spoke up and said, "Are y'all vegetarians?" We explained that our diet is highly plant based but because we do occasionally eat meat, we're not truly vegetarians (I cook most of our meals with whole foods these days, due to family health history concerns for myself and each of my immediate family members. Btw, a quick plug for Boca Burgers, which are REALLY good. They taste exactly like the frozen burger patties you can buy, but are plant based, high on protein, low on cholesterol and contain 65% LESS FAT than a regular beef burger. Family heart disease? If you're not allergic to soy, give these a try. Walmart carries them.)

Anyhoo, so after dh briefly explains that most of our meals are plant based, the cashier goes, "Wasn't it hard to give up McDonald's chicken nuggets?"

Whaa??? ROFLOL!

It was hard to give up pop last year. It was hard for my kids to give up most of the sugar they used to consume (which wasn't all that much, but still...) It was hard to begin to use less and less processed foods last year. It's been hard to handle the increased expenses related to fresh produce. It's been hard to accept that my cooking prep time has doubled. And it's been hard to reduce our consumption of chicken (it's long been a favorite meat in our home).

But,...hard to give up McDonald's chicken nuggets? Bahahahahaha! Uh, nope. Nope, that wasn't too much of stretch.

"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food: and to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, [I have given] every green herb for food: and it was so."
Genesis 1:29-30

Toni

Bug Huntin'

Remember the Our Gang episode where Spanky is barely a toddler and he's going through the house with a hammer "bug huntin'"? I got to witness my own version of that today with 19 month old Brandon.

We have these toddler fishing poles that Brandon is really into at the moment. So Carl and I are sitting there eating a salad for lunch when down the stairs on his belly comes little Brandon, fishing pole in tow.

He toddles over into the kitchen and immediately notices an ant on the floor (if you've ever lived in a house built on a slab, you know how pesky they can be). So Brando walks over, takes aim as if his pole were a spear, and begins to BANG BANG BANG the heavier rod end on the ground in an attempt to kill the ant. Never mind that he missed it by a good 2 feet. In his little bug huntin' 19 month old mind, job done.

We were already cracking up at his antics, but what he did next left us in complete stitches. He toddles over into the laundry room, sets his pole down and begins diggin through the dirty clothes in the laundry basket. A few seconds later, he comes out with a dish towel.

"What the heck is he going to do with that?" I queried.
"Hmmm, not sure," replied Carl.

Over to the spot where he "successfully" hunted his bug, he bent down and, as he believed he was doing, cleaned it up.

Towel back in laundry basket.
Job definitely done now.

So here's the deal. Forget Orkin. If you need to rid your house of bugs, our boy is now available for hire. I'm warning you, though. He's cute so it'll cost ya!


Gotta love this little boy!


We waited 4 months beyond "cut point" so Nana could give him his first haircut.


Our tired boy and his favorite stuffed animal of the moment, Sugar Loaf.

Toni

A Banner Day!

Gosh, what a busy but wonderful day it was. We celebrated Olivia's 9th birthday today. NINE! I can't hardly believe it. My first, my baby, is nine. Can it be?

My memory serves me well. I can remember being two years old, my parents as my witness. I remember a particular event because my dad was driving us to PA so my grandparents could care for us while my mom gave birth to my sister. She was born about 2 months shy of my 3rd birthday. And I remember that ride to PA at 2 years old. I also vividly recall my 3rd birthday. The little red sweater I wore. My Uncle Jim present. I got a cat for my 4th birthday (and a Spirograph too). As I said, my memory serves me well.

And now my Olivia is 9, yet I am at a loss for where the time went. I didn't "forget." It's just hard to remember (or perhaps bittersweet to reflect?) Somewhere between adopting four children, a job relocation that included moving from the country in one state to the burbs in another, and the fact that time waits for no one, my baby is (I know you know) now 9 years old. Sigh. Half her time with us, passed (past). Half the time God has given us to train her up in the way she should go. And like the half-time of a football game, I realize that I'm supposed to take this opportunity to examine the game plan and adjust as we move forward. Forward into tween-age and teen-age. Forward toward adulthood. So many mistakes made to this point and yet her dad and I do NOT take this parenting job lightly. God entrusted her to our care. And so did her birth family. What an eye opener that has been. What a blessing!

And so today we celebrated for the second time (the first being with our dear extended family last week). She loves lions and tigers and so I made her a lion cake.


We swam at our local waterpark, where everyone had a blast, in spite of the two women who wanted to rumble with me over our, uh hem, "daring" attempt to share a humongous oversized poolside umbrella with them (yeah, they felt they owned it and pretty much threw a temper tantrum because we had the audacity to try to claim a little public shade for our kids, lol). We then came home and had homemade potato and leek soup with whole grain bread, which she loved. After cake and icecream, she opened her gifts (which included leashes for her stuffed tigers from Nana and Papa who sport real cat collars from Aunt Lori and Uncle Scot).

And finally, we ended our day by returning to a local walking trail to see if we could again spot the Indigo Bunting pair we saw last night. Remember how I talked to the frog? Well, pardon me while I switch hats because once again, I kid you not, I mimicked the song the male sang last night and within 30-45 seconds, he appeared.


And so did she. His blue is spectacular, but she isn't blue at all. And she wouldn't sing as he did. What a privilege to see them not once but twice, especially considering the fact that I've NEVER seen one. The photos aren't great (I had a 10X zoom but it's a non-SLR camera). But at least you'll get the gist.

Seeing blue birds fascinates me. Cardinal color is awesome. But the Indigo? Magnificent!
If you want to know more about this little star gazer (The Indigo Bunting migrates at night, using the stars for guidance. It learns its orientation to the night sky from its experience as a young bird observing the stars), you can read the terrific post my dear brother wrote about them here.

Toni

Talking with the toads

G'head!
Call me Dr. Doolittle.
Or perhaps the frog whisperer.
Fact is, this evening I met a little toad prince.
More like a bull frog prince, actually.
And we talked.
Seriously!
My family as my witness.
This is how it went down.

We were on an evening walk through our local park. Reece wanted to check on the tadpoles we spotted last week, to see how much they had grown. Sadly, we checked multiple spots along the algae-laden pond but saw nary a one. While everyone was searching the south end of the pond, I ventured off to the north, lured by a noise I thought to be a woodpecker. It started ever so slowly and built to a crescendo of chatter that truly sounded like the pecking of wood.

Only...

It was coming from the edge of the pond not five feet from where I was standing. Curiously, I moved in for a closer look. Nothing. And yet, when I back away, there it was again. I moved in. It stopped. I looked. Nothing. I backed away. It resumed. Hmmmm!

Now, I know this next part is going to sound crazy. Fact is, I've always been a little "off beat" when it comes to my interactions with nature. I found it beautiful when I spotted a dead leaf swirling around in a mud puddle on a damp, gray, windy day. I took it upon my self to rescue newborn kittens from the scorching pavement of my apartment complex in San Francisco, risking attack by their protective but helpless mother. I coaxed a wild squirrel to feed out of my hand in our backyard as a pre-teen, by chattering to it while holding a handful of nuts (and it attempted to bite me before scurrying away, thankfully only grazing the skin of my hand.)

I could go on, but the point is, today I talked with a baby bullfrog. Now I know you think, "Girlfriend done lost her mind." Now if you're thinking this because I attempted to talk to a frog, well then,...maybe. But if you're thinking that the frog and I didn't actually converse and that it was all in my head? Well,...you're just wrong. Oh, yes you are.
Because we did.
Yes, seriously.
When I couldn't figure out what the wood pecking noise was, I mimicked what I heard. I made a series of clicking noises with my tongue, building in crescendo as I had heard "it" do. And almost immediately, there it was. The noise. AND the baby bullfrog. His chatter lead me to spot him sitting in the mud at the edge of the pond. He faced me and chattered away. And every time he got silent, I returned his chatter. And,...I'm so very serious here...every time I filled the silence by beginning to chatter, he began again.

My entire family watched this interaction with great interest and wonder. It was nothing short of beautiful. Okay, perhaps what I experienced as beautiful, you might just think is weird. But it wasn't. Weird. One of God's tiniest creatures sat on the edge of a local pond, allowing us to come so very close as he exchanged chatter with me. What were the chances? I truly love such exchanges with nature. Did I mention how much I miss the country? ;)

And to top it off, we saw a doe out in the open as we walked. She hugged the treeline for a good 30 feet before making her exit into the forest. And not 15 minutes later, we climbed a hill and spotted two young buck with velvet on their antlers, along with a doe, all feeding in the field about 20 yards ahead of us.
I don't carry my camera when we walk, so you'll just have to take my word for it. As nature sightings go, it was a banner day!

Toni

Not so bright an idea

A few days ago, we decided to explore the bike trail that connects all the local parks in a nearby town. We parked our van at one end and began what was a most relaxing walk.

I'd love to tell you it was all beautiful too. And in truth, parts of the trail were beautiful. Many large trees held majestic positions along one side of the path and we even encountered an interesting new plant which we never saw in Ohio (looks just like mini bamboo). Anyone?


(update: plant has been identified as an asparagus-like "horsetail" known as Equisetum hyemale)

But (sigh), as we walked along, I also noted a gentle flutter in my ear and recognized it as a long silenced voice of childhood. It was, in fact, Bambi. I could see him in the scene where he was drinking from a stream when suddenly all the garbage floated by (remember that one?), his mother stating with concerned tone, "Man is in the forest."

Well, the same rang true for me as the trail wound behind the back lot of our local energy company.

Ugh!

It was SUCH an eye sore.

Rusted metals in the form of boxcars and 50 gallon drums.
Old, broken concrete.
Weeds galore.

Ironically, there was a chain link fence seperating the eye sore from the open stretch of land that hugged the bike path on one side. Growing in that patch was the most beautiful wheat. Bread of life! Our kids are really excited about learning which foods come straight from God's hand to our mouths, so they couldn't resist plucking a bunch to carry with them as our walk continued.

Well, before we knew it, we had walked all the way to the first park, some 2.25 miles from our starting point.
Walked.
All six of us.
That's 10 legs.
Uh huh, is too (Brandon was in his stroller so his 2 legs don't count).
Now why we felt it was a good idea to deplete every ounce of potassium from our kids' sweet little bodies, I can't say. I will note that 4½ miles round-trip is a l.o.n.g. walk for 5 and 6 year old legs. So, how did they make it?
1) a mandatory 5 minute break on our heinies (literally, on the side of the path)
2) they took turns riding in the extra seat on the double stroller.

Of course, Olivia was too big for the stroller so she just moaned and groaned her way back to the van. Uh, yeah, we obliged her.

And while tired, the kids perked up right nice when their daddy bought them a milkshake from Hardees. And we got such terrific counter service from a young girl who worked there. Having strong ties to customer service in the airline industry, I am keenly aware of both excellent and poor customer service. I was impressed with this young girl. She listened as the littles fought over which flavor they wanted (they were going to split a milkshake as they only came in one size; tub-o-shake).

"Straw-bay-wee!"
"NO! Choc-litt."
"I said STRAW-BAY-WEE!"
"I. SAID. CHOC-LITT!"
(enter dad) "Fine, you can't agree?"
(turns to counter girl)
"We'll take vanilla."
Only, when she made the shakes, she took the time and effort to make half a strawberry shake and half a chocolate shake. Isn't she awesome? We thought so.

Now, what day of torturous vigorous walking would be complete without a bit of fun back at the ranch (we don't live in a ranch, btw). My kids have always loved a little game I play with them where I lie on my Scoliosis ridden back (brilliant, I know), then give them a ride on my feet. Olivia is waaaaay too heavy for this game anymore and Brandon has just recently been introduced. Reece, however, still LOVES it.
So, supine I went as he laid his chest across my feet, grasping my hands for balance.
Let the ride begin!
I pushed him up, then down, twisted him side to side.
Over
and over
and over
and...
"No wonder he loves it. It's just like some kind of rollercoaster ride, "noted Carl.
Yeah, well. Thanks for the note, dear hubs, because not one millisecond later.... YAK!
Yack, yak, yak!
Reece pulled a classic amusement ride move on me, literally *ON* me, and yakked all over my chest.

Then laughed.

Hard.

At his yakked up momma.

Who was gagging.

A lot!

If I get any more bright ideas and I happen to share them with you, please don't hesitate to tell me. Because after all, did I tell you about the time I broke my younger brother's arm while giving him the very same back ride as a kid?
'Nuff said.

Toni

Contributions from my assistant

Today, I was preparing a vegetarian shepherd's pie (it's in the oven now so word's still out on family response but it did sure taste good up to the point where I popped it in the oven.)

So there I was, chopping potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, spinach, and tomatoes.
Reece, a.k.a. the assistant chef, was responsible for adding the chopped potatoes to the pot of water. As he did this, I gained some insight from him. It went like this.

"Look, Mom! This one looks like a little hat!"
Now that might be cute, well and good and all, but not when you look over and your 6 yo is literally wearing that little potato hat. Sigh

Or this gem;
"Dive in, little fella. Dive in! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!"
Again, charming to hear. Uh, not so charming to see water splashed all over the table and floor. But at least those spuds had fun as they headed off to boil-land, lol.

Of course, Reece's favorite part is always (ta-da!)...the MAGIC STIRRER! a.k.a. the electric mixer.
Any guesses as to where else my mashed potatoes are at this moment?
(Hint: CLEAN UP ON AISLE NINE. P-R-O-N-T-O!!!)

Toni